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That Real SB View

Like I said at the end of my last post, my new Santa Barbara friend recommended a few key places around the city I needed to check out before heading back to Orange County. One of his main suggestions was going to the courthouse… seemed like an odd suggestion to me until I arrived.

The entire thing was absolutely beautiful! I’ve always been in love with the Spanish-style architecture- the white stucco exterior, terra-cotta tile roofs and rounded archways. The courthouse has all of that plus ridiculously amazing ceilings, hand painted-tiles, luscious foliage and so many intricate details all over the place.

One of the things Tour Guide George mentioned I had to do was to go to the top of the tower. As much as I was already in love with the courthouse already, the view from the top of the tower gave me goose bumps. When I returned to SB a few short months later I made a point to go up the tower again of course and the view still was just as amazing. I could sit up there for hours if I had the time.

Any lingering feelings of sadness about my recent breakup- the reason why I ended up on this trip in the first place- were definitely gone at that point. At least the negative thoughts were. I sat up on the tower looking over this gorgeous place for a while, reflecting on my life. I thought about how some things which at the time seem so devastating and we don’t know where to go or what to do from there, can turn into something totally amazing. Doors open you might have never even imagined if you had continued on that same path.

It’s almost indescribable how I felt… so invigorated by life and its endless possibilities for my new future, while at the same time having this strong sense of peace and belonging. Like this is where I’m meant to be right now and what I should be doing. I will always love Charleston SC, where my ex moved to and where at the time, I thought was going to be my next if not final home. But Charleston never made me feel the way Santa Barbara does. I would have stayed up in the tower longer with that view if I didn’t have to get on the road in a few hours, so I made my way down to finish exploring the rest of the courthouse.